Critical studies of media on Iraq

 According to a study of US war reporting (by FAIR),
nearly two thirds (64%) of all sources featured in US media
reports were pro-war, while 71% of US guests favoured the
war. Anti-war voices were 10% of all sources, but just 3%
of US sources. Thus viewers were more than six times as likely
to see a pro-war source as one who was anti-war; with US guests
alone, the ratio increases to 25 to 1.http://www.fair.org/extra/0305/warstudy.html

[Another study by the US media watchdog, FAIR, found that
following the WTC attacks on 11/9/01, the New York Times
and Washington Post op-ed pages acted as an
"echo chamber for the government's official policy
of military response, mostly ignoring dissenters".
FAIR's survey counted 44 columns in the Times
and Post (12/9/01 - 2/10/01) "that clearly
stressed a military response, against only two columns stressing
non-military solutions". http://www.fair.org/activism/nyt-wp-opeds.html]

 The UK public considered BBC TV coverage of the Iraq
war less objective than that of its commercial rivals, according
to The Independent Television Commission (ITC). Both
BBC1 and BBC2 were judged to be less "fair" in their
coverage than Channel 4, Five, Sky News and ITV. The
ITC findings suggest that public respect for BBC "objectivity"
is on the wane.http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/media/story.jsp?story=455575

 The BBC's claims of impartiality over Iraq look dubious
according to David Miller of the Stirling media research
institute. He quotes a study of media coverage of anti-war
dissent in five countries showing the BBC featuring the lowest
level of dissent of all. Its 2% total was even lower than
the 7% found on the US channel ABC. The empirical evidence
"suggests a pro-war orientation" in the BBC, he
says.

Miller mentions coverage of the coalition victory as an example:

"As Baghdad fell on April 9, BBC
reporters could hardly contain themselves in their haste to
endorse the victors. This was a "vindication" of
the strategy and it showed Blair had been "right"
and his critics "wrong". Here the BBC enunciated
a version of events very similar to that of the government.
According to the BBC, "dozens" witnessed the statue
pulled down by US marines in Baghdad on April 9, while "thousands"
demonstrated against "foreign hegemony" in the same
city on the 18th. Yet the footage of the former was described
as "extraordinary", "momentous" and "historic",
while the larger demonstration was greeted with scepticism.
Are they "confined to a small vocal minority", the
newscaster asked."

(Source: Guardian, 22/4/03)

 The British charity Save the Children was ordered
to end criticism of the Iraq war by its powerful US wing,
to avoid jeopardising financial support from Washington and
corporate donors, according to the Guardian (28/11/03).

More to come...

We're compiling a longer list than the above. However, the
list of studies (eg comparative surveys over a period of time)
seems relatively short compared to subjective criticisms of
individual reports. (We find the former more useful). If you
know of further studies please contact
us.